Board Member Compensation

The subject of board member compensation came up in a conversation I was having yesterday, and then this morning I came across an article about it in Philanthropy News Digest, "Nonprofit Board Compensation Continues to Spur Debate."

For the organizations that I work with - mostly small to mid-sized community organizations - it would be a shock to find that any of them pay their board members. For many of the largest nonprofits (hospitals, universities, some foundations), however, compensation is considered a requirement in order to "attract the best talent."

My personal feeling is in agreement with Daniel Borochoff, president of the Chicago-based charity watchdog American Institute of Philanthropy,"If a board is not willing to volunteer, why should anyone else?"

I spend a good part of my time emphasizing why every board member needs to commit to making a significant financial contribution to their organization. I can't imagine any scenario where I'd encourage them to ask for a paycheck.

Okay, for a national or regional board I can accept limited reimbursement of travel expenses to an annual meeting, but even then I'd expect most board members to refuse it. For a board where all members are locals, I wouldn't even go along with that level of reimbursement. Such expenses are tax-deductible by the individual members as the cost of volunteering; they don't need to be paid back by the nonprofit that they are supposed to be governing.

What do you think? Am I taking too much of a hard line on this issue? Do you compensate your nonprofit board members? Write to me (email link below) and let me know.

Also see Paid boards spur not-for-profit debate